Eric had always held a fascination for Magic.

Even back on Earth, he was someone who delved deep into things like mysticism and other forms of paranormal activities—all so he could find some proof of any supernatural force.

The reason for this insatiable hunger of his wasn't innate.

It had a cause.

"Both of my parents died in a car crash. I live with my aunt and uncle. They're not bad people, but…"

Eric didn't love them.

He didn't feel any sense of attachment towards those people—not like he felt for his parents.

Plus, they had kids of their own.

Eric felt it would even be a burden off their shoulders if he was no longer their responsibility. That was his own way of repaying them.

"Bottom line is that I don't miss Earth and I don't want to return." Eric furrowed his brow with resolve and calmly stated all of this.

"Oh wow. I didn't know that happened to your folks. My condolences, man." Justin murmured, his face crestfallen.

"There's no need to feel bad about it. I also didn't know about your situation. I find it respectable that you want to see the people you love again."

With Eric and Justin smiling at each other, Clark decided it was his turn to speak up.

"To be honest, I have a friend that is being domestically abused at home. I want to help him so badly, but I'm so powerless. In an attempt to research more on the subject, I entered this rabbit hole of cases and instances… and there's so much of it going on." As he spoke, he clenched his fist and displayed anger.

"Why does there have to be so much injustice in the world? Why do the bad guys get away with their crimes? Why… why can't I do anything to help?"

In the end, there was nothing Clark could do about his friend's situation.

"Somehow, I want to go back to Earth… at least if I get to keep these powers. I want to help my friend and others who need help. To stop the strong from bullying the weak…" Justin and Eric smiled as they nodded at Clark.

His ideal was something they couldn't help but appreciate and agree with.

"Power is meant to be used for good. That's what I believe. Whether it's the Dragons of this world, or those evil scum back on Earth… I want to stop them with the strength I've been given."

"What if you were going to lose your powers if you went back to Earth?" Eric asked, flexing his glasses once more.

"Would you choose to do so?"

Upon hearing the question, Clark had a grimace on. His face contained nothing shock of hesitation.

"I… I don't know. I just want to help, so… I don't know."

Eric and Justin knew better than to pressure him about his ideals any longer.

"You know what I think? I think there has to be a way to use the Summoning Magic that was used to summon us to bring those we love to this side." Eric changed the topic and gave a wide smile.

"We could bring your friend who is being abused, as well as your girl and parents."

Eric looked at Clark and Justin respectively. His eyes showed he was serious despite smiling about it.

"If we were able to arrive here, then others should as well. I'd rather study the Magic of this place and figure out how to do all of that than to simply return to Earth and risk my powers being removed."

Everyone could relate to what Eric was saying, however, that didn't make his own suggestions absolute.

"Well… it's going to be a while before that plan of yours becomes viable." Justin chuckled at Eric, slapping his back.

"Gah!" The boy yelped a little as he stumbled forward, causing Justin to quickly apologize.

"We first have to rid this world of Dragons, right? Let's stick to that first."

Justin and Eric nodded at Clark's words, implying agreement.

For a moment, the three boys practiced silence and smiled at each other. In a strange sense, this entire walk with just three of them had given them the chance to grow a lot closer than they could have imagined.

It was almost like everything had naturally led to this point.

"I hate to interrupt what's going on here right now, but we have company, guys." Justin commented as he swiftly poured his attention forward.

His [Perception] kicked in at just the right moment, alerting him of the danger up ahead.

His friends swiftly took their position and cautiously prepared for the attack they would face.

The Undead Summon behind them already had its blade sheathed, and its hollow sockets began to brim with bright purple sparks.

It was obviously preparing for combat.

"Guess we'll talk more later." Justin chuckled. "For now… we gotta kill some bugs."

********

[Meanwhile]

~SQUISH!~

"This is the last one." Trisha said as she violently pierced the Centipede Monster that stood before her.

The thing wiggled a little, but once she added a layer of her [Greater Lightning Magic] to the mix, it became deeply cooked and stopped moving altogether.

"Whew!" She rubbed her forehead, feeling sweat slightly gathering there.

As the smell of roasted Centipede entered her nose, Trisha looked at the trail of corpses that she had caused, smiling softly to herself.

"I'm done on my end."

"Me too."

She turned to her fellow females, only to see the Centipede corpses that lay at their feet.

Compared to theirs—especially Alicia's—hers was but a small pile.

'Both of them have at least three times more…' Her thoughts trailed as she left her own heap and reunited with her group.

Of course, Trisha understood that Belle had a more superior ranged set of abilities, and Alicia had her Familiar to assist her.

Plus, her skill-set couldn't properly shine given the kind of enemies that they were fighting.

With all of those in mind, Trisha shrugged off her earlier thoughts and rendezvoused with the girls.

'It is what it is…'

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Thanks for reading!

This was a nice conversation, I'd say. I wonder what the girls will talk about…